1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composition useful for removal of organic deposits from a ceramic, glass, plastic, or metal substrate, and to a method of use thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the invention pertains to a composition for cleaning an organically fouled smoking apparatus such as a pipe, a cigarette holder, or a water pipe, and to a process whereby the smoking apparatus is cleaned and disinfected.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of a pipe cleaner is known in the prior art. More specifically, pipe cleaners heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of removing carbon residue and other organic scale for tobacco smoke are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Smoking devices generally comprise a receptacle for the tobacco, a mouthpiece, and a stem connecting the receptacle to the mouth piece. The stem assembly may be a simple longitudinal stem or a more complex shape such as a spiral. All types of smoking apparatus, whether they are ceramic, glass, plastic or metal, collect organic residue such as tar and scale on these internal surfaces over time. The scale accumulates in the stem and mouthpiece and eventually blocks the flow of smoke between the receptacle and mouthpiece. If not cleaned on a regular basis the pipe begins to draw poorly and eventually becomes clogged and unusable. Pipe replacement can become costly and expensive, thus pipe cleaning is considered routine maintenance for preserving a pipe in good working order.
Currently, smokers have two main methods of cleaning their smoking devices--dry and wet. Dry cleaning involves the well-known "pipe cleaner". This method is not suitable where the stem is long or convoluted. Wet cleaning may be active--involving a brush and a cleaning solution, or it may be passive--wherein the smoking device is allowed to soak in a cleaning solution.
By way of Example, the prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,248 to Slade, Sr., disclosing a smoker's pipe filling and cleaning system. The cleaning system includes a battery operated, motor driven brush centrally mounted within an ash receptacle section. A pressure switch activates a motor causing the brush to rotate. The pipe bowl is simply inverted over the brush and pressed downward. The rotating brush removes debris from the pipe without scarring the pipe, the debris falling into and being captured in a heat resistant receptacle section surrounding the brush. This system is most useful for removing tobacco from the bowl of a pipe. This system does not address cleaning of he stem nor the mouth piece. Thus the problem of blockage would still exist.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,959 to Karalius discloses a brush-like device as a pipe cleaner having a first end, a second end and a handle section located between the first and second end. The pipe cleaner apparatus is constructed of bendable steel which allows it to assume various configurations for cleaning the bowl and the stem.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,306,622 to Gordon discloses an electronic motor driven pipe cleaner comprised of a thin disc-like brush or buffer wheel mounted transversely to the rotary axis of a small electric motor. The wheel is spun within the bowl of the pipe for cleaning. Again, this pipe cleaner only cleans the tobacco receptacle.
In view of the difficulty of mechanical type cleaners discussed above to access or adequately clean internal surfaces of a smoking apparatus, such as the internal surface of the mouthpiece or stem, there has been a recent trend to employment of liquid cleansers. Some liquid cleansers have been especially developed to break down and remove residue or scale in the stem and mouthpiece of the pipe. However, even these liquid cleansers merely provide a pre-soaking treatment and require brushing to remove deposits. Thus, areas not reached by a brush are not cleaned. This problem becomes acute in the case of convoluted or sharp angled stems or other pieces.
Purple Power liquid pipe cleanser, available through the internet, has sodium hydroxide as a main active ingredient, and requires that the piece being cleaned be soaked for at least 30 minutes, more usually 45 to 60 minutes, in a solution of Purple Power and water. Grunge Off.RTM. powder, also available through the internet, comes in the form of a concentrated powder. The powder is dissolved in hot water for about 45 minutes, and a pipe is soaked in the resulting solution and then scrubbed with a brush to remove scale. Another such liquid cleanser is Dr. Greens chalice cleanser, also available through the internet. This cleanser also requires mixing with hot water, soaking and brushing of the pipe. Each of these product requires soaking for at least about one-half hour and constant scrubbing for satisfactory scale removal, which is particularly difficult to achieve in hard-to- reach places.
The present inventor became familiar with the various commercially available liquid pipe cleansers, and felt that the long period of soaking was a significant inconvenience. Determined to find a better liquid pipe cleanser, the inventor began experimenting with various household detergent products, such as glass cleaners, tile cleaners, carpet cleaners, etc. He quickly realized that most of these products could be eliminated from consideration due to the unpleasant and possibly toxic residues left behind after cleaning.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,106 to Ohmi et al. teaches a cleaning liquid comprised of pure water, isopropyl alcohol, and hydrofluoric acid, ammonium fluoride, or potassium fluoride. The cleaner is used to peel organic films such as photoresists off of a semiconductor. The cleaning liquid is used together with ultrasound. This cleaner would be potentially toxic, and would be difficult for the average consumer to use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,580 to Varner, Jr. et al. teaches a method for removing stains from carpets, upholstery and other bulky items. The cleaner consist of an aqueous composition of hydrogen peroxide, isopropyl alcohol and deionized water. Experimentation has shown that hydrogen peroxide will not remove the scale.
Another cleaner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,235 to Kilbarger. This patent discloses a liquid hard surface cleaner for porous surfaces. The composition contains a surfactant, a synthetic hydrocarbon oil and an aliphatic alcohol. This composition, if used for cleaning a pipe, would leave a residue on the internal surfaces of the pipe which could produce harmful fumes during subsequent smoking use.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,667 to Reichgott et al. discloses cleaning organically fouled anion exchange resins by first pre-soaking the resins in a brine-caustic solution for one hour, rinsing with distilled water, soaking in a brine-caustic 30% isopropanol solution for one hour, rinsing, and repeating the second soaking step. The use of a one to four carbon monohydric alcohol in the second soaking step was found to provide a 100% improvement in resin removal. This process is both time-consuming (taking at least three hours) and complex, and thus does not provide a solution to the problem addressed by the inventor.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a need for a new and improved method for cleaning and disinfecting a smoker's pipe capable of removing organic scaling on the smoking apparatus quickly and in a single cleaning cycle.